London is desperate for IPOs. Could Shein end the drought?

Fast fashion giant Shein, founded in China, is taking steps for going public in the United Kingdom, according to multiple media reports, in what would likely provide a shot in the arm for London’s ailing main stock exchange.

The online retailer is preparing to file a prospectus with the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority for approval, ahead of a potential initial public offering (IPO) that would value it at around £50 billion ($64 billion), Sky News reported Sunday, citing unnamed sources in London’s financial district.

If Shein goes ahead with the listing, it is expected to try to raise more than £1 billion ($1.3 billion) from the sale of new shares, Sky News said.

Bloomberg and the Financial Times have also reported that Shein is preparing a confidential filing for a London listing.

A spokesperson for Shein declined to comment on the reports.

The UK’s Labour Party, which is widely expected to win next month’s general election, said Monday that it had met with “a range of companies, including Shein, that are looking to invest or list in Britain.”

“Raising investment, productivity and (economic) growth is one of Labour’s missions for government,” a party spokesperson told CNN.

“We expect the highest regulatory standards and business practices from any company operating in the UK. We believe the best way to ensure this is to have more companies operating from and regulated by UK law,” the spokesperson added.

Shein, which is headquartered in Singapore, initially hoped to go public in New York, according to several media reports, but has faced political opposition in the United States over the potential implications for US national security.

In an open letter to the US securities regulator in February, Republican Senator Marco Rubio urged officials to block any potential IPO by Shein in the country if it failed to make “extraordinary disclosures” regarding its links w ith the Chinese government.

Susannah Streeter at financial services provider Hargreaves Lansdown wrote in a note Monday: “While New York still holds immense pulling power and was the company’s first choice, plans for a listing there look unlikely given the lack of a welcome by regulators.”

But investors in the UK are likely to have ethical concerns about Shein’s business, including a lack of transparency in its supply chain and the “huge volumes of cheap clothes it produces,” she said.

A lifeline for London?

Given its high profile and potential hefty valuation, an IPO by Shein would be a much-needed coup for the London Stock Exchange.

In recent years, several companies have quit the exchange for other cities or chosen New York to go public. That includes British chipmaker Arm (ARM), which notched the biggest IPO of 2023 when it listed on New York’s Nasdaq in September.

Fears of London’s demise were fanned again in March after Wael Sawan, the CEO of Shell (SHEL), indicated in an interview with Bloomberg that the energy giant might similarly head across the pond in search of a higher stock valuation.

However, Sawan then tried to stymie such speculation on a results call with analysts last month, saying that a move to Wall Street was “not a live discussion at the moment.” He added that Shell was focused on buying back its shares to help juice their value.

Still, even the slightest hint that Shell could ditch London will have rattled the city’s financial center. The company is the second-largest constituent of London’s FTSE 100 index, representing 8.2% of its market capitalization.

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